Improvement in photographic cameras



2 h Y I Sl Wm@l S eets Sheet 2 Camera.

Patented Dec. 4, 1860.

Fay Z UNITED STATES PATENT @Tric-E.

SIMON IVING, OF VATERVILLE, MAINE.

lMPROVEMENT IN PHOTOGRAPHIC CAMERAS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 30,850, dated December Ll, 1860.

To @ZZ wwnt it may concern:

Be it known that I, SIMON VING, ot" XVaterville, in the county of Kennebec and State of Maine, have invented certain Improvements in Cameras for Taking' Photographic Impressions, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a perspective View from the rear side of a camera with 'my improvements attached. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section through the middle of the same; Fig. 3, a front view of the lens-box; Fig. 4, detail to be referred to hereinafter.

Letters Patent of the United States were granted on the 10th day of April, 1855, to A. S. Southworth, of Boston, Massachusetts, for an improved plate-holder forcameras, in which the plate-holder was permitted to move for the purpose of bringing different portions of the same plate successively into the eld of the lens of the camera. The device shown by him for adjusting' rind defining` the position of the plate-holder was sufficient where buta few impressions were to be taken on a single plate; but where a larger plate is to be used and a greater number of impressions are to be taken on it for the purpose of economizing time and labor and where different-sized plates are used and a varying number and size of impressions on the plates are taken it requires a greater scope of adjustment for the plateholder and a more convenient and accurate method of moving and regulating the position of the plate-holder. To furnish these is the object ot the first part of my present invention, which consists in a mechanical means of moving the plate-holder, in combination with a scale or index for defining its position with respect to the lens, to accord with the required number of impressions to be taken on the plate.

The second part of my invention consists in the application otconvenient mechanism for simultaneously adjusting the several lens-tubes in position, where two or more of these tubes are used in the same camera, it being now customary to use more than one lens-tube where several impressions ot the same object are to be taken.

That others skilled in the art may linderthe foci ot' the lenses by means ot a rack f and pinion (j, operated by a hand-wheel D. A side board 7L extends back from each side of the frame A, and two rails fi extend across from one to the other of these side boards. On these rails slides a trame E, to one side of which is attached a rack-bar t'. A pinion Z on a short shaft y, to which is attached the hand-wheel F, engages with this rack, and by the revolutions ot' the hand-wheel F moves the frame E laterally across the instrument.

Immediately in front of the frame E is placed the ground-glass frame G, (shown detached in Fig. L) which is connected with the trame E in the following manner: A pin m, projecting from each side ot' the frame G, passes through a hole in the frame E. Two springs n, attached to the against the frame E and tend to press the frame G toward the front of the frame A. Immediately in front of the frame G is placed the plate-holder H, which has a back o hinged at 5, which will open to allow the plate I to be introduced into place, where it is held by the springs p and a slide or shield J, which is to be withdrawn after the focus of the lens is adjusted. I may here remark that when the plate-holder Il is removed the ground glass q is thrown by the springs n into the place of the plate I. To the back of the plateholder II is attached a rack-bar yr. A short shaft s, which carries a hand-wheel K and a pinion L, has its bearings in the top of the frame E. The pinion L engages with the rack r, so that by revolving the wheel K the plateholder H is raised or lowered vertically, and in order to guide this motion ot the plateholder a tongue n on each side of the front ofthe frame G slides in a groove lr in the back of the plate-holder. By the above armove the plate I quickly and accurately into frame G, bear ytWo or more lens-tubes.

2 aeso any definite position to bring different porltions of it successively into the field of the ens.

In order to assist the operator in delining the position of the plate With respect to the lens, I have made use of indices, either the marks 20 on the back face of the frame A, which lix the position of the corner fw of the plate-holder, or else circular plates m, secured on the shafts y and s, the position of which is defined by a spring-pawl S, which drops into notches in the plate 0c. If differentsized plates I are to be used and a different number of impressions are to be taken on the plate, a different scale 20 Will be used or a different-sized plate on the shafts y or s will be used. The various scales 2O may occupy different corners of the frame A or the various-sized plates x may be placed on the shafts y and s, as at 9, Fig. l.

Having now described the first and second parts of my invention, I will proceed to describe the mechanism by Which the lenstubes are adjusted. As before stated, it is customary Where several impressions of the same object are to be taken at one time to use It is necessary that these lens-tubes be moved not only toward and from the ground glass or plate to ady just the focus and size of the picture; but

also that these tubes should be moved toward and from each other to bring the picture opposi-te to the holes l5 in the diaphragm O,

through which it is thrown ont-o the ground glass or the plate. To facilitate this latter movement, I use the following mechanical device. The lens-tubes c b c d, as before stated, are carried in the lens-box G, to the front of which is attached the brackets d2 b2. A shaft c2 has its bearings in the brackets CL2, and has cut on it at its opposite ends right and left hand screws 9 and It), which pass through and engage With nuts (Z2 on rods, which slide freely in sleeves or sockets e2, attached to the tubes d b c (Z. In the same manner another shaft f2 has its bearings in the brackets b2, and its screws ll and l2 engage with the nuts h2 on rods which slide in the sockets t2, attached to the lens-tubes. This allows the sockets e2 to slide vertically on the rods to which the nuts d2 are attached, and the sockets t2 to slide horizontally on the rods to which the nuts h2 are attached, so that as the shaft c2 is revolved by the thumb-nut 13 the tubes d d and b c will approach toward or recede from each other. And in the same Way as the shaft f2 is revolved by the thumbnut I4, the tubes a h and d c will approach or recede from each other. Thus by simply turning the thumb-nuts I3 and le I can quickly and accurately adjust the positions of the lens-tubes ct b c CZ with respect to the different portions of the diaphragm O and the plate I. A different diaphragm O will be used, with holes l5 ot a different size and position, when different-sized impressions are to be taken. The inner ends of the tubes a l) c CZ are secured in blocks l0, which slide in the box C against the inside of the front of it.

Vhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

I. A mechanism for movingtheplatc-holder H, in combination with an index for defining its position, operating substantially in the manner. described.

2. The mechanical means herein described or its substantial equivalent for varying the positions of the lens-tubes d b c (l.

SIMON VING.

Witnesses;

THos. R. RoAcH, EDMUND MAssoN. 

